Ask the Expert Archive Week 7
MIGRAINES
New research indicates that food plays a more important role in migraines than previously thought.
Eating some foods can trigger a migraine, but so can skipping meals. Valerie South of the World Headache Alliance has some tips on how to identify your migraine triggers. For people with migraines there are a variety of triggers that can set off an attack. In the food category we have things like red wine, chocolate, aged cheese and for some even caffeine. I think the important thing to realize is that these things and other triggers aren't actually the cause of migraine. The cause of migraine is involved with a complex chain of events that happens in the central nervous system of someone who suffers. The reason why they suffer is probably because they inherited the gene from someone within their family. We now have really good reason to believe that migraine is a genetic disorder. We certainly know that it's a medical disorder and we know there's help and hope available for people who suffer from it. There's a lot of people out there who aren't accessing treatments and there's more and more treatments available each day. But for people who do have migraines the first step is a proper diagnosis and from there they should look at some of the things that might be setting their attacks in motion. The triggers may be food, hormones, changes in the weather and reactions to stress, particularly the letdown period after a stressful event. So, if you have recurrent headaches or you suspect you do have migraines, it's important for you to do what you can to eliminate the number of attacks and the controllable triggers and to see your doctor to access all of the new available treatments.
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